Pick-up trucks have wide acceptance as the primary vehicle of choice, not just for people like mechanics and technicians who need to carry equipment or materials but also for active single persons as well as couples. Users of pick-up trucks often go to conventional social gatherings, e.g., baseball games, picnics, outdoor entertainment performances, and the like, in their pick-up trucks. It is rather limiting for such a person to simply sit in the cab of the pick-up truck all of the time. Equally obviously, it is uncomfortable for a person to simply sit on a lowered tailgate for extended periods of time. There is, therefore, a need for a pick-up truck which allows a user to be comfortably seated on his or her vehicle tailgate, possibly with a companion, on a cushioned seat with back support. The set-up should allow a person to safely place lighted cigarettes, cans or glasses of liquid refreshment, and personal items such as solid foods, eye glasses, and the like, within reach. Preferably, the user should also be able to listen to sound from the truck's radio, tape player, or cassette player, and simultaneously be able to receive shelter from sunlight or rain. Although there have been some efforts to address such needs, there does not appear to be presently available a simple improved truck structure having all of these features.
An early attempt to add to the structure of a conventional automobile element to meet some of these needs is found in U.S. Pat. No. 2,228,203, to de Hoffmann, titled "Combination Rack and Automobilist's Collapsible Outfit". The rack in this invention is designed to be clamped on to the rear bumper of an automobile, to provide at least partial support for a bottom and back support of a seat so that the user may sit thereon facing rearwardly over the rear bumper. In other embodiments, the structure is shown as capable of being extended to be supported, at least partially, in contact with the ground behind the automobile.
For the specific needs of the pick-up truck owner, U.S. Pat. No. 5,000,504, to Munguia, provides a "Swivel Seat Attachable to a Truck Tailgate". It employs a clampable support element which may be clamped to a lowered tailgate, to support a base for a swivel seat having a bottom and a pivotable back support to enable a single individual to sit above and be totally supported by the lowered tailgate of the pick-up truck.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,982,578, to Lowe, teaches an elaborate structure mounted to the floor of a panel truck for supporting items of food and beverage on a slidable extension, which in use, would be partially supported by ground behind the mobile catering truck.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,824,163, to Hendrych, teaches a convertible cover suitable for mounting over the top of a trailer or the load compartment of a pick-up truck. The cover is removably secured over the truck and has a top wall with at least one opening spaced from an edge of the top wall to form a seat section on the top wall intermediate the opening and an adjacent side edge of the top wall. A flat removable panel is secured in a close fit on the top wall and overlies at least the opening formed therein. Provision is made for supporting an upright stem of a large sun umbrella to provide shelter to persons seated on opposite sides of the central opening.
As noted, such solutions do not fully and economically meet the perceived needs. The present invention is intended to do so.